In an investigation into possible violations of competition law in bond trading, Deutsche Bank will probably remain unpunished. “Deutsche Bank proactively reported the matter to the British authorities and cooperated fully with the subsequent investigation,” said a spokeswoman. The British competition authority CMA pointed out that Deutsche Bank had drawn the authority’s attention to possible violations of the law. The money house therefore goes unpunished even if violations are officially determined.
During the investigation, Citigroup admitted to being involved in collusion and would only have to pay a reduced amount in the event of penalties. HSBC, Morgan Stanley and the Royal Bank of Canada would not have admitted any wrongdoing. According to the CMA, bond dealers from the institutions mentioned exchanged sensitive information such as investment strategies in chat rooms between 2009 and 2013. So far, however, it is unclear whether there have been any violations of the law. The authority wants to examine the opinions of the institutes before making a decision on how to proceed.